The Professional Capabilities (previously called "competences") are the 13 areas you are measured against throughout GP training. Nearly everything you do maps onto these 13 PCs.

By ST3, you should have a solid understanding of them. If you'd like a quick recap, the Bradford VTS cheat sheet is the fastest way to orientate yourself.

ARCP panels and Educational Supervisors primarily assess you through your ePortfolio — and log entries are the core of it. Log entries must show evidence of performance and of learning. Write them as though someone who doesn't know you will be reading them, because at ARCP time, that is exactly what happens.

Use the ISCE framework to structure entries:

• I — Information about the situation (enough context to understand it)
• S — Self-awareness (how did it make you feel? what were your thoughts?)
• C — Critical analysis (making sense of it; what does it mean?)
• E — Evidence of learning (what will you do differently? what has changed?)

If you didn't get this opportunity in your previous GP post, now is the time. Ask your trainer to arrange short sessions (1–1.5 hours each) with:

• Practice nurses and nurse practitioners
• Clinical pharmacist
• District nurses and health visitors
• Practice manager and admin staff
• Midwife (antenatal clinics)

Use the Bradford VTS task sheets (in the GP Post Induction downloads) to make the most of these sessions rather than just sitting and watching.

Without a routine, things get missed. Clinical mistakes and errors follow. Discuss with your trainer what their own post-surgery routine looks like. Then build yours. A typical routine after a surgery might look like:

1. Clinical tasks (action items from the session)
2. Scanned clinical letters — read and file
3. Blood and investigation results
4. Physical pigeon hole
5. Work email

Your system will evolve. That's fine. The key thing is having one.

Most practices use EMIS, SystmOne, or Vision. Ask your Practice Manager for the "test patient" — every system has one. Explore it without the pressure of a real clinical encounter. Watch YouTube tutorials for your specific system.

Ask about add-on systems like ARDENS and ASSIST, which many practices use. Get someone to show you how they work.

If you type slowly — learn properly, now. You will not survive general practice without reasonable typing speed. Try TypingClub.com or Mavis Beacon. Yes, really.

Log in 3–4 times in the first two weeks just to get a feel for the layout. Once the system is familiar, adding log entries becomes much easier. It's horrible trying to write up a meaningful learning experience when you're simultaneously confused about which button to press.

This applies primarily to doctors who qualified outside the UK. Ask yourself honestly: "Do I need to improve my spoken English?" If yes — start now. The SCA is heavily dependent on natural, fluent English communication. The examiners are patients; if they can't understand you or if your responses sound stilted, you will lose marks regardless of clinical knowledge.

A combined approach works best:

• Watch English TV series (without subtitles)
• Listen to audiobooks in English
• Speak English as much as possible outside of work, not just during it
• Consider a language class or conversation partner
• Read medical story books aloud — This is Going to Hurt by Adam Kay is a good start

Practices cannot release you at the last minute for courses. Book with at least 6 weeks' notice. Courses to consider at this stage:

• BLS and adult/child safeguarding courses (mandatory — get them early)
• GP knowledge update course (NB Medical, Red Whale, etc.)
• AKT preparation course
• SCA preparation course
• Consultation skills training
• Specific knowledge areas: contraception, ECGs, spirometry, diabetes, COPD
• Urgent and Unscheduled Care course (Out of Hours preparation)
• IMG-specific courses if applicable

A good consultation book will transform your clinical practice far more than another revision resource. These are particularly recommended for ST3:

The target is 4 log entries per month:

• 3 on a clinical encounter with a patient (recorded as Clinical Case Reviews)
• 1 on anything else — an HDR session, a difficult situation, a reflection on a team meeting

Make the last week of every month your "non-clinical log entry" week — it creates a simple rhythm. Get your trainer to look at your early entries and give honest feedback on reflection quality. Better to fix your approach in month 2 than in month 10.

By the end of ST3 you need: 5 CATs and 7 COTs (at least 1 Audio-COT).

The most common mistake trainees make is leaving these until the final 2 months. This causes stress, rushed assessments, and poor-quality feedback. Start in month 2. Aim for roughly one CAT or COT every 4–6 weeks.

Most doctors were never taught how to study well. Research shows that many of our "default" study methods (e.g. re-reading, highlighting) are among the least effective. The most effective methods — spaced repetition, active recall, interleaving — are rarely taught at medical school.

Read the Bradford VTS page on effective studying and discuss with your trainer. Then implement it. This matters especially for AKT preparation.

Don't leave registration late — exam dates fill up. Discuss timing with your trainer and TPD. A common approach is to sit both AKT and SCA around the 6-month mark, since the clinical knowledge needed for AKT also underpins SCA performance.

• Join an AKT trainee study group — being in a group is significantly correlated with passing
• Join an SCA practice group — regular case practice with peers is the single most valuable SCA preparation activity
• Consider an AKT prep course and/or online revision platform

Every GP trainee writes PDPs (Personal Development Plans) for each post. Usually 3–5 items. They must be SMART:

You will continue writing PDPs every year as a qualified GP for your annual appraisal. Think of ST3 PDPs as practice for a lifetime habit.

Good ST3 PDP themes — these are relevant, achievable, and linked to real GP needs:

• Improving dermatology diagnosis and management in primary care
• Safer prescribing in older adults and polypharmacy situations
• Improving telephone and remote consulting skills
• Managing same-day urgent presentations more confidently
• Improving women's health, contraception, and HRT skills
• Improving musculoskeletal assessment in primary care
• Consulting more efficiently at 15-minute appointments
• Improving admin workflow and result handling systems

By month 3, you should have a clear revision plan in place for both exams. Many trainees find it helpful to take both AKT and SCA in the same sitting window — the clinical knowledge they overlap significantly.

• Do regular mock AKT questions — aim for a block of 20–30 questions every 2–3 days minimum
• Practise SCA cases with peers at least once a week — ideally with feedback from a trainer or senior colleague
• Go on a GP knowledge update course (NB Medical, Red Whale) to refresh clinical knowledge breadth
• Join an online SCA prep platform

The Leadership Project is MANDATORY. Non-negotiable. It is best started now — in months 3–6 — so that it is well underway before the exam pressure peaks in the second half of ST3.

Tips for choosing a project:

• Keep it simple — small, well-executed projects score better than ambitious, incomplete ones
• Pick something you find genuinely interesting — you'll do it better
• Discuss options with your trainer. They have seen what works and what doesn't
• It can be a QI project, a clinical audit, an educational initiative, or a service improvement

Concrete examples that work well:

• Improving a recall system for a chronic disease (e.g. missed annual reviews)
• Improving a repeat prescribing safety step
• Improving a results workflow or documentation process
• Improving trainee induction information
• Improving coding or documentation in one clinical area
• Improving how practice teaching sessions are organised

By month 6, you should have at least 2–3 CATs and 3–4 COTs completed. The responsibility for arranging these rests entirely with you — your trainer will not chase you. Your trainer is deliberately stepping back to encourage autonomous learning.

Effective teaching is a skill — not something you just get up and do. If you are asked (or want) to present at HDR or a practice meeting, take time to learn some basic teaching theory first. You will deliver a much better session, and you'll understand why certain approaches work better than others.

UUC (Urgent Unscheduled Care) experience is gained through being the on-call duty doctor during normal hours AND/OR through Out of Hours (OOH) sessions.

Good practice guidance:

• Do NOT leave all your OOH sessions to the final months of ST3 — it's stressful, and it shows poor time management on the ePortfolio
• Tell the practice before any OOH session so they can arrange time off — you must not exceed 40 hours per week
• Write up each OOH session in the ePortfolio, reflecting on at least one or more UUC capability
• Check with your Training Programme Administrator how many sessions your deanery requires

Your ES meetings feed directly into ARCP panels. Prepare thoroughly. Allow 2–3 hours for the meeting. The three key areas of the ES prep form are:

1. "Finding the evidence for the Capability Self-Rating Scales" — think carefully and specifically about what your ePortfolio entries show for each of the 13 PCs
2. "Formulating action points for the capabilities" — what do you still need to work on?
3. PDPs — review progress on existing ones and update for the next period

Also ask your Clinical Supervisor to complete a CSR (Clinical Supervisor's Review).

Around the 6-month mark is a commonly recommended time to attempt both AKT and SCA. You have enough clinical experience to feel confident, but enough time remaining in training to resit if needed.

If you don't pass first time — pick yourself up, analyse what went wrong specifically, and make a clear improvement plan with your trainer. Many excellent GPs did not pass first time. What matters is how you respond.

The Prescribing Review is MANDATORY. It exists because patient harm from poor prescribing is a significant and preventable problem in primary care. Use it as a genuine opportunity to review your habits — not just as a form to complete.

Specific areas worth reviewing in the prescribing assessment:

• Antibiotic choice and duration — are you following local formulary and NICE guidance?
• High-risk prescribing — NSAIDs in renal impairment, anticoagulants, lithium, methotrexate
• Polypharmacy in older adults — are all medications still indicated and monitored?
• Renal function awareness — are you adjusting doses appropriately?
• Contraception and HRT prescribing confidence — common gaps for trainees
• Monitoring requirements — are review intervals in place for long-term medications?
• Safer documentation and review intervals in repeat prescribing

In the final ST3 year you need:

• 1 regular MSF — aim to complete this in the first 6 months of ST3. Needs at least 10 respondents, normally including both clinicians and non-clinicians. Sending to only doctors and missing admin/nursing staff is a common gap.
• 1 Leadership MSF — complete this in the second 6 months, after your leadership activity. Specifically gathers feedback on your leadership behaviours during the project.
• 1 PSQ (Patient Satisfaction Questionnaire) — choose your timing sensibly. Do not send PSQs when your admin systems are chaotic, you are running very late, or the team has not properly organised distribution. The quality of your PSQ data depends heavily on how it is administered.

By month 9, you should have completed or nearly completed your 5 CATs and 7 COTs. Use this phase to fill any gaps. Remember: at least one COT must be an Audio-COT. If you haven't done one yet — now is the time.

This is the window in which to apply: no earlier than 6 months before CCT, no later than 3 months before. If you miss this window, you may not be able to work independently when you qualify. See the dedicated Performers' List section of this page for full details.

In the final stretch, stop thinking only in terms of "what have I done?" and start thinking "would an ARCP panel clearly see I am ready for independent practice?"

Ask yourself:

• Are my assessments spread sensibly across the year — or all bunched at the end?
• Do I have enough convincing evidence across all capabilities — not just the obvious clinical ones?
• Do my logs show progression and learning, not just repetition of similar entries?
• Is my ESR likely to support "Competent for Licensing" across all 13 PCs?
• Have I completed leadership activity, Leadership MSF, PSQ, Prescribing Review, and QIA?
• Is my CEPS evidence broad enough — including observed intimate examinations?
• Is my UUC evidence convincing — genuine range, real reflection?
• Have I passed (or appropriately planned for) AKT and SCA?
• Is my Compliance Passport complete — including Form R?

4 log entries per month (3 CCR + 1 other) — maintained throughout; at least 1 Learning Event Analysis this ST year.

Final checklist:

• 5 CATs ✓
• 7 COTs (at least 1 Audio-COT) ✓
• 1 Leadership MSF ✓
• 1 PSQ ✓
• Prescribing Review ✓
• Leadership Project ✓
• All CEPs completed and evidenced ✓

If anything is missing — this is your last chance. Get it done immediately.

In the last 12 months you must have evidence of completing the following (with a log entry for each):

• BLS training
• Defibrillator / AED training
• Adult Safeguarding update
• Child Safeguarding update

Also strongly recommended (and mandatory for ongoing GP practice): PREVENT training. Often covered within Adult Safeguarding courses.

Other "boring but essential" compliance items often missed:

• Form R / required declarations — ensure your Form R is current and accurate
• Time out of training accuracy — any periods of leave or absence must be correctly recorded; inaccuracies cause ARCP complications
• Evidence attached in the right place on your ePortfolio — certificates filed in the wrong section don't count
• CEPS evidence — broad enough, including observed intimate examinations by end of ST3

If yes — brilliant. If not:

• This is your final window for a resit before your planned CCT date
• Analyse your performance feedback honestly — what specifically went wrong?
• Do more mock SCA cases / AKT question banks
• If you cannot pass in time, discuss with your TPD about a training extension

Treat this as your most important ES meeting. The outcome feeds directly into your ARCP sign-off panel. Prepare exceptionally carefully.

Two critical areas to focus on:

1. Capability Self-Rating Scales: For CCT sign-off, all 13 PCs must be rated "Competent for Licensing" by your Educational Supervisor. Know which ones are borderline and address them specifically in the meeting.
2. PDPs for your first year as a qualified GP: Write PDPs that are relevant to the scope of work you will be doing post-CCT. These can be transferred directly into your first GP appraisal portfolio.

Ask your Clinical Supervisor to complete a CSR before the meeting.